Illustration Animation BA(Hons): Portfolio guidance

Information required to support your application

We look for open mindedness and enthusiasm with a willingness to explore all the opportunities of illustration, animation and how the visual communicates.

Drawing as a practice and as a passion, not just for its own sake but as a means of communicating and expression. We look for applicants who are self-motivated, who can work individually but also within a group. Also visual evidence of a desire to build imaginative creativity into a career and can show this ambition in a portfolio format.

Portfolio

Initially a selection of 20 'slides' of your work will be reviewed online and then applicants invited for an interview with a physical portfolio. These 20 online images should show not just your 'greatest hits' but the whole process, so you can have multiple images on some single slide pages. Please include at least 2–3 observational pieces, life-drawing and/or location. Please check that links to Flickr/Vimeo can be accessed and work.

Even if you have expressed an interest in animation, it is not a requirement to include moving image to gain an interview or be offered a place.

There is no correct format or size for a physical portfolio, but think about clarity of presentation and how the work can 'speak for itself' in sequence with or without you there to explain it. A volume of 10–15 sleeves providing 20–30 sides should be enough to represent yourself. Please protect the work and don't roll drawings up.

We are interested in seeing all the stages of your working process from the start of initial ideas, how they were developed and then resolved. All visual and narrative forms are considered from painting and drawing, graphic narratives, print and materials through to three-dimensional, lens and time based.

Digital skills

Not a requirement, but useful to show you can use applications. If you have moving or interactive image please ensure files are labeled with your name and project. We would prefer them brought to interview on an USB stick or disc rather than your laptop or pad.

Sketchbooks

Show at least some of your research and development books and sheets in the initial 20-slide submission. Please bring all your sketchbooks, workbooks and research collections if selected for interview.